English AC31 Inf. 18 (English Only / Seulement En Anglaise / Únicamente En Inglés)
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Original language: English AC31 Inf. 18 (English only / seulement en anglaise / únicamente en inglés) CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES OF WILD FAUNA AND FLORA ___________________ Thirty-first meeting of the Animals Committee Online, 31 May, 1, 4, 21 and 22 June 2021 Species specific matters Sharks and rays (Elasmobranchii spp.) IMPROVING SYNERGIES BETWEEN REGIONAL FISHERY BODIES AND CITES PARTIES FOR THE SUSTAINABLE CATCH, TRADE AND MANAGEMENT OF SHARKS1 1. This document has been submitted by Germany in relation to agenda item 25.* 2. This document was commissioned2 by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Germany (BfN) with funding from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) follow up on CITES implementation issues with Regional Fishery Bodies identified by the CITES Animals and Standing Committees Shark Working Groups, as noted in CoP18 Doc. 68.1, CoP18 Doc. 68.2, and traceability issues for sharks noted in CoP18 Doc. 42. 3. The purpose of this document is to identify the opportunities for further harmonizing the efforts of Regional Fishery Bodies and CITES Authorities to progress the sustainable and legal harvest of sharks listed in CITES Appendix II, recognising that their common objectives are the recovery of depleted stocks, delivering sustainable fisheries and trade, and reducing the future need for strict protection measures. 1 The term “sharks” refers to all species of sharks, skates, rays and chimaeras (cartilaginous fishes, Class Chondrichthyes). * The geographical designations employed in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the CITES Secretariat (or the United Nations Environment Programme) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The responsibility for the contents of the document rests exclusively with its author. 2 Authors are Sarah Fowler, Amie Bräutigam, Nicola Okes and Glenn Sant. Sarah Fowler, Amie Bräutigam, Nicola Okes and Glenn Sant Conservation, Fisheries, Trade and Management Status of CITES- Listed Sharks BfN-Skripten in prep. 2021 Conservation, Fisheries, Trade and Management Status of CITES-Listed Sharks Sarah Fowler Amie Bräutigam Nicola Okes Glenn Sant Cover picture: Silky Shark Carcharhinus falciformis (Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch) Authors‘ addresses: Sarah Fowler 15 Bakers Place, Plymouth, PL1 4LX, UK E-Mail: [email protected] Amie Bräutigam 4514 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008, USA E-Mail: [email protected] Nicola Okes Cape Town, South Africa Email: [email protected] Glenn Sant Senior Advisor, Fisheries Trade and Traceability, TRAFFIC, c/o: University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia E-Mail: [email protected] Scientific Supervision at BfN: Dr. Timm Reinhardt Fachgebiet II 1.1. ”Zoologischer Artenschutz“ Wildlife Conservation Unit This study was funded by the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety as Research & Development project (no. FKZ 3519532052). This publication is included in the literature database “DNL-online” (www.dnl-online.de) BfN-Skripten are not available in book trade. A pdf version can be downloaded from the internet at: http://www.bfn.de/skripten.html. Publisher: Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN) Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Konstantinstrasse 110 53179 Bonn, Germany URL: http://www.bfn.de The publisher takes no guarantee for correctness, details and completeness of statements and views in this report as well as no guarantee for respecting private rights of third parties. Views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. This series is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License Attribution – No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY - ND 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/deed.en). Printed by the printing office of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Printed on 100% recycled paper. ISBN 978-3-89624-xxx-x DOI 10.19217/skr Bonn, Germany 2021 Table of Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 2 2 Background ........................................................................................................................... 3 3 The conservation status of major commercial shark species ................................................. 4 3.1 IUCN Red List assessments .......................................................................................... 4 3.2 Other sources of information on status .......................................................................... 7 4 Threats to chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, rays and chimaeras) ............................................. 8 5 Fisheries and Trade status .................................................................................................. 11 5.1 Catch data ................................................................................................................... 11 5.2 Trade data ................................................................................................................... 13 5.3 Catch and trade in CITES-listed species, and other abundant shark taxa .................... 20 5.4 Risk of Overexploitation ............................................................................................... 23 6 Management status ............................................................................................................. 24 6.1 International management ........................................................................................... 24 6.2 Regional Management ................................................................................................. 27 6.3 National management.................................................................................................. 34 7 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 37 References ................................................................................................................................ 39 List of Figures Figure 1. Red List assessments for all Chondrichthyans, and for CITES-listed species. ............... 4 Figure 2. Change in the Red List status of oceanic sharks and rays, 1980–2018. ........................ 5 Figure 3. Past spawning biomass trend and future projections for North Atlantic Shortfin mako. .. 7 Figure 4. Major threats to chondrichthyan fishes .......................................................................... 8 Figure 5. Proportions of CITES-listed and unlisted chondrichthyan fishes affected by fishing ..... 10 Figure 6. Catch trends in the top 20 shark fishing countries, 2007–2018. ................................... 12 Figure 7. Global shark meat trade, quantity and value, 2008–2019. ........................................... 14 Figure 8. The top 20 importers of shark meat, 2008–2019. ........................................................ 14 Figure 9. Global shark fin trade, quantity and value, 2000–2018 ................................................ 15 Figure 10. Major shark fin importers and their average annual reported imports, 2000–2016. .... 16 Figure 11. Major trade flows of national shark meat imports, 2015–2019.. ................................. 17 Figure 12. Major trade flows of national shark fin imports 2015–2019 ........................................ 18 List of Tables Table 1. Conservation status of sharks and rays listed in the Appendices to CITES and CMS ..... 6 Table 2. Threats to the chondrichthyan fishes .............................................................................. 8 Table 3. Threats to chondrichthyan fishes from different scales of fishery .................................... 9 Table 4. Threats to Appendix II pelagic sharks & rays from different scales of fishery .................. 9 Table 5. Red List Index of selected groups of chondrichthyans and CITES-listed species .......... 10 i Table 6. Top 20 shark catchers, 2007-2018 ............................................................................... 11 Table 7. Shark product HS codes used in trade, 2008–2019. ..................................................... 14 Table 8. Taxa identified from the Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun fin markets, Hong Kong ......... 19 Table 9. Regional and international protected status of CITES-listed pelagic sharks and rays .... 26 Table 10. RFMO management status of sharks and rays listed in the CITES Appendices .......... 29 Table 11. Regional Plans of Action (RPOA) or Guidance under the FAO IPOA–Sharks ............. 32 Table 12. Responses to the FAO IPOA–Sharks by top 40 shark catching entities ...................... 36 Annexes Annex 1. CITES Appendix II shark species Management risk by unit/stock countries of origin, major fishery types, primary uses in trade and availability of data ................... 41 Annex 2. Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) with current Conservation and Management Measures (CMMs) for sharks, rays and chimaeras ........................ 48 Annex 3. Regional Fishery Bodies (RFBs) of relevance to or engaged in shark conservation